May 23, 2014

JERUSALEM — Two very, very rich Americans who recently left very, very high-profile jobs flew to Israel this week, each on a private plane. The less-rich one hosted a ceremony Thursday night where the more-rich one got a $1 million prize from a quartet of Russian oligarchs. Then he gave it back.

If that sounds like something Jay Leno might have poked fun at on “The Tonight Show,” well, Mr. Leno — whose net worth is estimated at $250 million to $350 million — was the host. Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman who served three terms as mayor of New York, was the one receiving — and then returning — the first-ever Genesis Prize, which honors achievement steeped in what it calls “Jewish values.” ...

Mr. Leno, 64, is not Jewish and had not been to Israel before Tuesday, when he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This is just like a Hollywood awards show but with fewer Jews,” Mr. Leno cracked Thursday night. ...

The Genesis Prize aspires to be a kind of “Jewish Nobel.” “Shows what I know,” Mr. Leno said. “I thought the Nobel Prize was the Jewish Nobel Prize. Does anybody else ever win this thing?”

Candidates for the $100,000 prize need not be Jewish, though the video promoting it showcased an all-Jewish cast of achievers, including Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Marc Chagall, Levi Strauss, Mark Zuckerberg and Sarah Silverman.

From Albert Einstein to Sarah Silverman? That doesn't sound like a promising trend.

Isn't this kind of "let's celebrate ourselves" business better left to low performing groups? I mean, I can see why why Black Americans would want to do something like this, seeing as how their record at the actual Nobel Prizes is pretty abysmal. But do Jews really feel that their achievements have gone unrecognized?

Sarah Silverman? If you take just the best known and most accomplished Jewish comics, why not have: Jerry Seinfeld, Phil Silvers, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, and Lenny Bruce before Sarah Silverman.

Sarah Silverman has however one thing all those *GUYS* lack.

Jews are among the most SWPL there are, and like SWPL they are afflicted with feminism and the self-destruction that feminism brings. Low birthrates leading to extinction? Check. [Because delayed fertility is reduced fertility.] Eat-Pray-Love obsessions with laughable "exotic" foreigners? Check! Celebrating questionable "achievements" by women who used to be hot as their only real success metric? Double Check Batman! Eleventy!!11!!!

Silverman is not even funny, she's got the same schtick as Chelsea Handler (formerly) hot chick who says obscene naughty things in a little girl voice. Mostly of a sexual nature. Seinfeld, the Three Stooges, Larry David, those guys were funny. Screamingly at times.

"Isn't this kind of "let's celebrate ourselves" business better left to low performing groups? I mean, I can see why why Black Americans would want to do something like this, seeing as how their record at the actual Nobel Prizes is pretty abysmal. But do Jews really feel that their achievements have gone unrecognized?"

Indeed, this is quite declasse, but then again, Russian oligarchs (Jewish or otherwise) aren't exactly known for their sense of Anglo-Saxon propriety.

"If one starts with two parents whose IQs are 160 and looks at the average IQs across generations the speed of the regression to the mean is quite fast.

Parents 160, 160Children average 136 (assume these mate with a 136)Grandchildren average 122 (assume these mate with a 122)Greatgrandchildren average 113 (assume these mate with a 113)"

Would it actually work that way, though? Is regression to the mean that directly proportional (40% closer each generation)? More to the point, even if it is, I would think that the percentage is based on a random sample.

In other words, just because two random people with IQs of 136 would on average produce kids with IQs of 122, it does not follow that this would happen if one of the IQ 136 people has two parents with IQs of 160. I would suspect that the regression would be somewhat smaller in the grandchildren, and much smaller if both of the IQ 136 parents had parents with IQs of 160.

The way Israel is constantly in the news, you wouldn't know its impact on the global economy is about the same as Denmark or Belgium.

Justifiable because it's such a remarkable place.

This week is pretty typical: the leader of an billion-member church and the billionaire mayor of the most important city in the world flying in for some shameless mutual PR boosting. One of the US' biggest (pun intended) political figures Chris Christie having to explain himself to pro-Israel donors like Sheldon Adelson after accurately describing the West Bank as "occupied territories.

By the way, Sailer is not anti-Semitic. He admires Israeli Jews for their use of drone strikes and Depo-Provera injections on minority groups.

>> But do Jews really feel that their achievements have gone unrecognized?

want to pump some money into your local economy? Just dream up some plausible reason to invite a bunch of rich American Jews to fly over and spend a bit of time during one of the expensive holiday (L'ag b'Omer) periods.

American Jews have an infinite capacity to be receptive to the implication that sabra Israelis secretly admire them. And in fact, you could make a living here by catering to the angst and the insecurities of American Jews. Hey, why drive a taxi in Florentine (infested with wetback Sudanese & eritreans) when you can live large in Ramat Aviv (all askenazi-all the time public schools!) just by learning how to kiss LA & Westchester ass?!?

Sarah Silverman was kind of an odd one to include in that list, considering her career's high water mark was an uneven Comedy Central show that was cancelled years ago. Amy Schumer's show is funnier, and she snagged an Apatow movie deal.

As a topic for analysis, she's actually popped up at a few seminars that I've attended (UNDERSTANDING JEWISH IDENTITY IN THE MODERN WORLD, etc).Academics (well, Jewish academics) seem to find her fascinating.

Like many brunette girls, SS seems to feel that society views her as second rate in comparison to blondes. Hence, beautiful brunette spotting as a method of self-validation pops up rather frequently in her work.For example, in her memoirs (all comedians have them these days)she talks about watching Jane Badler (best-remembered as the evil Diana on V)on the Carson show. Naturally, mention is made of Badler's dark locks.

Of course, for SS brunette anxiety and Jewish anxiety seem to go hand in hand. Hence, her love-hate fixation on Winona Ryder, an actress who is beautiful, brunette (though not naturally so; she darkens her naturally light-brown hair), and Jewish.

careful. Saami elders have already visited here, asking around about how vernacular-revitalization works and might be replicated.

norsk people are NOT indigenous to the land; they are colonialist invaders. Your social institutions comprise a house of cards; & your security organs are manned by folks who want to enforce World War T.

pushing you guys into the sea,and handing the land back to the Saami.... is not beyond plausibility.

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